Final Fantasy: Plot Rewrite
by RiseOfTheGeckos
Summary: The story of Darius, the Light Warriors, and the epic struggle that would determine the fate of the world. Narrated in first person by Darius, the first of the Light Warriors.


Remake of Final Fantasy  
  
Chapter 1: A Legend Begins  
  
The world is really a wonderful place. It somehow manages to keep us alive by the power of forces we can't even begin to explain. Fire keeps us from freezing to death during the long harsh winters. Water quenches our thirst and supports our farms, and our lives. The wind keeps the air flowing and our ships sailing. The earth allows us to sow the seeds of life; it bears the fruit of prosperity. What would we do without these elements of nature? We cannot even think of what life would be like without them. But I know of a time when the powers of these elements were beginning to falter, and fade from this world. It was a terrible, bleak time in history. Fire grew colder and dimmer with every passing day. Water slowed its currents, and began to stagnate. The winds fell silent. Slowly, the very earth itself showed signs of decay. The world, it seemed, was ending. Yet the people continued living. They continued working and striving, regardless of the grim situation. Why? Faith is the answer to this puzzle. Around the time of my youth, a prophet by the name of Lukin was teaching fate's design to the people of the world. He prophesized that "When the world becomes shrouded in darkness, and all seems lost, four brave warriors of light shall cast away the evil and restore peace and prosperity to the land." It may sound like nonsense, but you have to keep in mind it was the only thing keeping the people of the world from giving up on life. This is where I come in. My name is Darius. When I was born, Lukin prophesized that I would be one of the warriors of light foretold in his prophecy. The news of my birth spread quickly around my home country of Corneria. Soon, the royal family knew of my existence, and seized me from my family in order to begin my training. For the first 20 years of my life, my only family members were the knights and bishops of Corneria castle. Not exactly the most enjoyable lifestyle, but hey, I had a holy mission to fulfill. Early on in my training, it became apparent that I had a lot of natural talent bearing heavy weapons and armor, engaging easily in close range non-magical combat. Lukin also predicted this. He claimed that I was the representative of the element of fire. In humans, he said, fire represented the vigorous spirit, who wields the strength of 10 healthy men. It certainly seemed that way. I had a very easy time learning to be a strong warrior. The royal family nearly always treated me with the highest of esteem, despite the fact that I was, at heart, just a warrior. Residing in the castle was King Amaderian, Queen Sophia, and their two daughters, Sarah and Mia. Mia was the younger of the two, born when I was 12 years old. Sarah, on the other hand, was closer to my age, being only one year older than me. All of the women of the royal family were well versed in white magic, the spiritual healing magic used to heal wounds, cure ailments, and sometimes even bring life to the dead, though that was a rare thing indeed. Lord Amaderian himself was too busy with politics to dabble in the field of magic. The women of the royal family of Corneria were said to be blessed with eternal youth and beauty. Sarah in particular had blossomed into a fine woman by her 21st year. Her silky golden hair flowed gracefully down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. She was a slender woman, probably weighing just under 120 lbs, and standing at 5'8". She had a rather fair complexion, with two bright blue eyes, a small nose, and soft pink lips to complete her frail exterior. The only difference between the women of the royal family was in their apparent age, as they all had the same gentle build to them. Sarah in particular emanated a pure aura about her that would be enough to make most men fall in love with her. Most men, that is, other than myself. Corneria's bishops often told me to be wary of all that catches the fancy of my eye. Evil comes in forms far from foul, and I would have to learn to resist the strongest of temptations before I would embark on my quest. In most everyone's opinion, if I could resist the beauty and soul of the King's eldest daughter, then I could resist any luxury that evil could think to use against my will. Born the son of an insignificant peasant, I was raised as a warrior of light so that I would one day work together with three other warriors of light in order to cast the evil and darkness that had shrouded the land away forever. This is my story. The story of the light warriors, who once long ago saved the world from destruction. But more importantly, this is a story of the people I have come to know and love, and the memories we will share forever.  
  
I had reached 20 years of age early in spring, the year I was to be finally sent on my pilgrimage to find the other light warriors and save the world. Nightfall had brought an end to my daily training, and I spent the night thinking about the turn my life was about to take. King Amaderian had spent the majority of my lifetime constructing a bridge that would connect the continent of Aldrea to Guldhand. The completion of this massive bridge would allow me to search beyond the kingdom of Corneria for my future allies. Lukin had told us that all of the light warriors could be found around the Aldrean Sea, but scattered about its lands. Questions raged through my mind as I thought about my quest. Who were these other warriors of light? Will they be more skilled than I? Will they be less skilled? What if something terrible has happened to the ones I must fight alongside during the time I spent training? What if I have to be the only one to shoulder this responsibility? It pained me to think that I would be venturing into the world, fighting an unknown enemy for an uncertain future. Thinking wasn't doing me any good at all. Since the bridge was still a few days from completion, I decided to give my worrying a rest, as well as my body. I drifted easily into sleep, exhausted from my particularly strenuous day.  
  
I awoke early next morning to the sound of wild commotion. After some small investigation, it seemed most of the activity was going on at the throne room. I would have dismissed the activity as excitement about my pilgrimage, but my intuition told me otherwise. The throne room was a mess. Amaderian paced about the room, followed by several advisors spitting out suggestions so quickly that I was surprised he could understand them. Sophia wept at one of the windows, accompanied by Mia. I could not stand not knowing what was causing so much grief, so I decided to make the information available to me. I approached Amaderian up to about 5 meters away from him and shot down on one knee, looking at the ground. "My Lord, may I have your attention?" I was surprised he even heard me over the endless rude interruptions of his advisors. He responded to my request, shouting "Silence! All of you! Burden me with your thoughts when I ask it of you!" When he had regained control of the room, he turned to me and continued, "Relax, Darius." I obeyed his command and got up to my feet again. "What is it you desire of me?" "My lord, I am curious as to the occasion that warrants such a din." This provoked a deeply disturbed look from Amaderian, and he explained, "15 years ago, I discharged a knight named Garland from my service and sent him into exile, for the crime of treason." "Death awaits those disloyal to the royal family of Corneria!" "Your loyalty is honorable, Darius. Garland, unfortunately, has been seeking vengeance on Corneria since his exile. Now, we believe he has taken revenge during the night. Today, both Sarah and the royal crest of Corneria are gone, both taken by the bitter former knight." I quickly saw my opportunity to venture beyond the castle walls. "This hideous act of disloyalty will not be forgiven!" But Amaderian calmly responded, "Unfortunately, Garland has taken refuge in the Temple of Chaos, to the northwest. This Temple of Chaos, as you may already know, is brimming with the forces of evil and darkness. It would be unwise to send men to pursue Garland to the temple. It seems there is nothing we can do at this point." "My lord! Allow me to go to the Temple of Chaos and destroy this traitor!" "Darius, are you fully aware of the danger of this situation?" "My lord, if I cannot bear the responsibility of venturing a short distance to defeat Corneria's enemy and return her precious belongings, how can I bear the responsibility of rescuing the world from destruction?" "...You speak with the wisdom of the prophet Lukin. You have my permission to go and rescue Sarah, and destroy Garland." "Thank you, sire! I won't fail you." Before I could turn to leave, Amaderian stopped me once more, this time approaching with what appeared to be a necklace adorned with a large ruby. "Darius, take this. This is a shard of the crystal of fire. It belongs to the light warrior of fire. Do not extend yourself beyond your abilities, Darius. If you should fall in battle, earth will lose one of its mightiest heroes, and the world may collapse." He then fastened the crystal shard around my neck. As it rested above my collarbone, I felt a surge of power run through my body. "The power of fire grants you strength, Darius. Use it well." With that, he sent me out to fulfill my first duty to Corneria.  
  
Corneria's armory was large and well organized. My selection was quick, as I knew the armory well and my mission was obvious. My armor was a simple choice; a suit had been made specifically for my use. It was a suit of plate mail that covered my torso, including shoulder protection and plates that extended halfway down my thighs on either side, in front, and behind me. I have armguards for my forearms, and similar guards for my shins. Metal plated shoes cover my feet, as well. Underneath all this armor is a body suit made of white cloth. The armor is all iron, but it's all been coated red. I guess the mix of colors is supposed to represent fire and light, which would be appropriate. I decided to take a mid-sized round shield to mount on my left arm, and a one handed, double-edged battleaxe. After all, I was going to be facing a former knight, and I would need something to penetrate tough armor. Satisfied with my selection, I headed out to the temple of Chaos.  
  
Life outside the castle town of Corneria was as I was told it would be. The open fields extended endlessly, but so did the monsters that inhabited them. Fortunately, Corneria was well defended and the men of Corneria did a good job of keeping most of the monsters away from town and the crops, but I had to cross some distance to get to the Temple of Chaos. It would not take long, I would reach the temple before nightfall, but I would have to be cautious and fight my way through the hostile monsters on my way there. As I ventured through the fields and forests, a number of weak monsters tried to attack me, but all of them fell to a single swing of my axe each. Pitiful. Even the weakest of Corneria's men could take a hit or two. As I emerged from the forest nearest to the temple, my arrogance was suddenly halted by an opponent I had not faced before. It looked like a human skeleton that wielded a rusted sword and carried equally rusted armor. Interestingly, his equipment was Cornerian! Cornerian warriors had ventured to the Temple of Chaos in the past, only to disappear in it and never return. It appears that their bodies are doomed to live on as a cursed life form. When he caught sight of me, he attacked instinctively. His rusted sword landed on my shield before it shattered, leaving my enemy with nothing but a dagger-sized piece of rusted metal to defend himself with. Oh well, at least he had the potential to be a worthy opponent. One swing of my axe tore his skull from his body. I was suddenly surprised to see his body continue moving, and swing at me again! This time I intercepted his attack by chopping off his right arm. I quickly followed this attack up with a swing across his entire upper torso. Now, the skeleton warrior fell into several pieces on the ground and stopped moving. Defeated, the body turned to ash. "Rest in peace." I consoled the ancient warrior. It became apparent to me that I would have to bring peace to a great many more cursed men during my mission to the temple. Why in the world would Garland ever come to a place like this? I continued heading towards the Temple of Chaos, which was now vaguely in sight.  
  
I made my entrance into the Temple of Chaos shortly after sending my axe through another skeleton, turning him into ash. The temple was eerily lit with blue torches. There were no windows to be found in the entire temple, making it feel like night inside. I headed down the corridor into the center of the temple. The central room was better lit than the rest of the temple. Garland was not inside, but I quickly spotted Sarah, chained to the wall in front of a strange symbol. What kind of occult ceremony is the princess of Corneria being forced to participate in? No matter, I had to get her out of there before Garland returned, wherever he was. Sarah spotted me as I approached her, trying to think of a way to break her loose. "Darius! What are you doing here?" "Highness, I have come with King Amaderian's permission to rescue you. Hold still, I'm going to break you free from these chains!" Sarah closed her eyes tightly so as not to become frightened at the sight of seeing an axe swung in her general direction, and said "You must make haste, Darius! Garland has left only briefly, he is certain to return shortly!" As I hammered my axe into the wall the second time, freeing her second arm from the wall, I replied "Good, that will make it convenient for me to kill him when he returns!" Sarah's eyes opened as I freed her right leg from the chains that bound it. "Do not trouble yourself, Darius! You have a higher mission in this world! If you should fall here, we have no hope!" I was about to free her right leg from the chains as I heard a deep voice from behind address me. "Heed the girl's advice, warrior of light. It would be a pity if you were to die a dishonorable death in this insignificant place." Having no more time to free Sarah, I turned to engage Garland. "Hold your tongue, traitor! My mission is to destroy you so that you will not offend Corneria any longer!" Garland was clad in heavy body armor and a large helmet that did not reveal his face. He carried a large sword that required both of his hands to wield. He would be a challenging opponent, but my axe could nearly match the strength of his great sword, and I had a shield that would probably be able to withstand two hits, if I had correctly measured his strength. "Warrior of light, I will not warn you a third time. I have important business to attend to here, and you have more important business elsewhere. Do not waste your life here." Now I was getting angry. Who was this guy to tell me what to do? No way was I going to return to Corneria in defeat and disgrace. I was a warrior of light! Better things to do, indeed! Destroying the minions of evil was my purpose in life, and I sure wasn't going to overlook this guy just because he wasn't the ultimate evil of the universe. Hell, I didn't even KNOW what the ultimate evil of the universe was at this point, who's to say it wasn't him? "I commanded your silence, and you defied me! I will not hear your evil words, and I will not walk the path of dishonor! Prepare to have your life taken, villain!" "I do not have time to deal with you, light warrior. I will make this quick." He stepped to the side, allowing four skeletons to come into the room. I was surprised they did not attack him. Garland pointed towards me and ordered them "That boy is your enemy. Kill him." So he thinks he can have me killed with just a few skeletons, does he? By now, I had enough experience fighting these guys to make four of them seem like little more than an entertaining challenge. All of them lost their rusted swords to my shield, and their bodies to my axe. As I finished killing the last skeleton, I turned to Garland with my weapon ready. "That took longer than I expected, warrior of light. I have decided that you are not a worthy opponent for my blade." Unbelievable! I took them out in under a minute! I seriously doubt he could have done any better; he was obviously just trying to discourage me. Just then, four more skeletons entered the room. Now Garland ordered them "Avenge your comrades." Great. Now I have to sit here and fight an endless number of skeletons until either this guy runs out of undead men, or I run out of endurance. Well, I certainly wasn't going to let the latter happen. "You could send all the minions of darkness in the world against me, Garland! I will not falter!" Before I could begin to engage the skeletons, a curious gust of wind blew from behind me, and strange rays of light emerged from the ceiling. Each of these rays found a skeleton to shine upon, and destroyed them instantly. As this happened, I turned around to find that Sarah was chanting a white magic spell. "Minions of darkness, you have no place among the living! Leave your grievances on earth and continue your existence in the afterlife!" She lowered her arms after the spell was complete and the skeletons had been destroyed. "Highness, that was amazing! I am in your debt!" I had heard about the effects of white magic, but I had no idea how powerful they could be in action. Garland then cut in, "Apparently I will have to deal with you myself, warrior of light. I cannot afford to allow the princess to spend her spirit using white magic." I readied myself for battle, as did Garland. I raised my axe into the air, then crossed my elbow across to my left, and swung the axe from left to right. This was a basic maneuver I had learned that causes an opponent to put his guard up on his left side, then quickly attack his right. Garland, however, proved himself to be an experienced combatant, and halted my swing with his sword. It seemed this battle was going to take a good deal of time. Throughout the battle, we traded between offensive and defensive patterns as we exerted our energy attacking ferociously and recovered it by defending. Finally, Garland gained the upper hand after I struck his torso armor. All I managed to do was put a hole in his armor, but he put a deep cut into my right arm. Now I was put on the full defensive, as I could only use my left arm well. Soon, I heard Sarah's soft chanting again. "Holy light, restore good health to your allies! May the defenders of all that is good never fall in battle!" I was suddenly enveloped in a white-blue glow, and the feeling began to return to my arm. The feeling was indescribable. It was soothing, but energizing as well. The burning sensation of the wound became cool and relaxing. When the spell was complete, I felt great. More than just my arm, too; my whole body felt revitalized. Garland appeared to be a little discouraged at this point, but continued fighting me. He wasn't doing very well, though. I landed two good hits on him through his armor, sending him to the ground. When I was convinced that he was dead, I turned back to Sarah. As I freed her leg from the wall, she spoke again. "Thank you, Darius. I would have surely perished if not for your rescue." "Highness, save your thanks for deserving ears. I, too, would have perished without your assistance." "Darius, you are rather difficult to compliment. You should remember that you are one of earth's finest heroes. It would not damage your character to hold higher esteem for yourself on occasion." "My lady, I am but a servant of the royal family of Corneria. Arrogance is not becoming of a true warrior." She laughed softly, amused at my rigid behavior. She had such a beautiful voice. So very soft and light, it glided through the air effortlessly. Not that I appreciated beauty at the time, but looking back on it, I really should have. I would have enjoyed my life more. I could have learned a lot more from Sarah a lot sooner than I did.  
  
"We owe you much, noble warrior Darius. You have served your country well, and we will be sad to see you leave. Today is the day you must journey far into the world, seeking out your allies and crushing your enemies. You must follow Lukin's prophecy for the world. There are four crystals in the world that represent Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. You hold a shard of the crystal of Fire. The other light warriors will carry shards of other crystals, which will identify them as your allies. You must find your allies, seek out the crystals, and restore their shine. Farewell, brave warrior." King Amaderian addressed me in front of the cheering townspeople of Corneria. No pressure, right? "I will fulfill my duty to Corneria, and to the world. Corneria shall see me return victorious." Only Sarah was not present at the ceremony. I heard that she was not feeling well. Leaving the town was strange. Rose pedals were spread all over the path I walked up to the city gates, and people were cheering me on all over the place. I pitied them; they had nothing to believe in except me. What has the world come to, when a world must depend on a single warrior for their survival? I left Corneria with a bastard sword across my back, a sword I easily wielded with one hand. I carried my round shield on my left arm, as usual, and wore my traditional fiery armor. Even in all my equipment, I felt unusually lightweight. Almost as though I was lifting the weight of the entire country of Corneria off my shoulders and entering the world free of burden.  
  
The massive bridge to the continent of Guldhand was not difficult to reach; the same weak monsters roamed about the land outside the city gates. The bridge itself held no monsters, however. It seemed they were not willing to step foot on the massive manmade structure. Finally, I set foot on the new continent, just past the stone bridge. Suddenly, a voice echoed from the bridge's support tower, to the left. "Who would have ever imagined that little boy in the castle would grow up to be the savior of the world?" Startled, I turned around quickly and drew my sword. "Who's there?" I caught sight of a woman in a white mage's outfit just a few meters away, leaning on the tower. She was dressed in a white robe, decorated with large red triangles lining the outer portions of the outfit. The robe fell to her ankles, Showing only the bottom of her brown leather boots. Her sleeves were large and loose fitting, exposing only her hands, which were also covered in leather gloves. A rope tied the robe tightly to her waist, probably so she could maneuver more easily. As her only means of self- defense, she carried an oak staff with both hands. I could not see her face very well, though; the hood of her robe covered most of her face, and I could only see part of her nose and mouth, along with two braids of golden blonde hair that trailed down either side of her, resting across her chest.  
  
"Sheathe your sword, warrior of light. I am your ally." Suddenly, I recognized her voice. It was princess Sarah. She hadn't been ill this morning, she left the castle to meet me here! I fell down on one knee. "My lady, you mustn't be here! The royal family will worry about you! It is dangerous outside the land of Corneria." Now that she had been identified, Sarah lifted her hood off of her head. "Do not fear, Darius. I left a note in the castle describing my whereabouts." "But my lady, why have you come here to meet me?" "Relax, Darius." I obeyed her and stood up. "I have come to accompany you in your journey and assist you in your battle against evil. My intentions run no deeper than that." "But highness, this is not your place. Battle is a terrible thing, and you have seen more than you fair share of it already." "This is my choice, Darius. I am prepared for any hardship we may come across. I am the best white mage Corneria has to offer for your protection." "My lady, there must be some other way. We must return to Corneria, and..."  
  
Suddenly, she cut me off. "Darius, do you not owe me your life, as you proclaimed in the Temple of Chaos?" I shot down on one knee again. "Yes, my lady. I would have perished if not for your assistance." "Then you shall repay your debt to me by accepting my offer to join you in your quest." She was truly a shrewd woman. I had backed myself into a corner here. What was I supposed to do? I was an independent, free man for a few hours, and here I was, about to bear the responsibility of Princess Sarah's well being. "Princess, you would be in danger during this quest. I beg you to reconsider your decision." "Darius, did I not ask you to relax just now?" I realized she was getting irritated at my formality, and rose back up again. "Darius, I have made my decision. Furthermore, I will not be in danger if you protect me, will I?" This was going nowhere. I suppose I would have to let her tag along no matter what I tried to do. "Very well, my lady. I shall do my best to protect you during my...during our journey." "Darius, you must do one other thing for me before we set out." Great. Another request. What am I, her personal babysitter? "Yes, my lady?" "From now on, you are to treat me as your peer." What? My peer? The Princess? If this keeps up, she's going to make me break every code I was sworn to live by! "My lady?" "You can start by addressing me by my name, Darius." Whatever you say, princess. Anything to just get this show on the road already. "If that is your wish, I shall address you as Sarah from now on." "You will be glad you did not decline my offer, Darius." "I'm going to hold you to your word, Sarah. We must make haste now." "Where do you propose we begin our search?" "Well, I planned to...I was going to begin searching the general area in Guldhand..." She caught me off guard. I hadn't really thought about where I was going to search. Guldhand was a massive continent. It would take me months to search the entire land. "Prophet Lukin had a vision today, during your ceremony. He told me that he felt the power of water coming from the north. He believes a warrior of light resides somewhere on the northern peninsula of Guldhand. I believe we should begin our search there." Not bad, princess. Maybe you won't be such a burden after all. "Thank you, my l...Sarah. We had better get moving, before the next warrior of light eludes our search." She nodded, and we set out for the northern peninsula of Guldhand.  
  
Chapter 2: The Search For Earth's Heroes  
  
"The land...it appears so peaceful...so beautiful. How is it that good people cannot enjoy such splendor without being armed for struggle?" Sarah clearly admired the world more than I had cared to notice. "We are approaching dense forest, Sarah. You must be alert, for there are many dangerous creatures that lurk about the wilderness." Sarah stopped in place long enough for me to notice and have to turn around to address her. "Is something wrong, Sarah?" "Darius, why is it that you hasten your pace so, ignorant of your surroundings?" What? Am I forgetting something? Maybe she needs to take a rest or something. "If my pace is too strenuous for you, we can rest here." "It is not your pace that disturbs me, Darius. You have not paid even minimal attention to the wondrous scenery about you. Do you take your journey for granted?" What is she talking about? Stop and smell the roses? Me? Uh-uh sister, I have important things to do. "The more time I spend in idle admiration of the world, Sarah, the more I rob that opportunity of others who are deserving of it." "Darius, just because you have duties to fulfill does not mean that you do not deserve to enjoy your life. Do the people of earth have the right to rob you of the quality of life?" Now look here, princess. Just because you managed to argue your way into this quest doesn't mean you're going to run the show. "I am a servant of the people. Putting the common good above myself is my purpose." Sarah shook her head, ready to move on again. "You are incredible, Darius. Every code of the warrior has been etched deeply into your soul. Perhaps someday, experience shall change your outlook on your life."  
  
The forest was as I thought it would be. Crawling with monsters. Giant arachnids littered the forest, as did goblins, wolves, and other violent monsters. Most of them fell easily to my blade. I made sure to keep Sarah extremely close, so that she could not be attacked by these beasts. They may have been a small nuisance to me, but they were a deadly foe for her. Occasionally, Sarah would aid me in battle with revitalizing white magic. It helped me not to tire throughout the day, and patched up any injuries battle would have brought upon me. Finally, we emerged from the forest at sunset. I have to admit the view was magnificent, but I didn't want to waste too much time on it, especially considering Sarah's behavior earlier that day. Sarah, of course, was absolutely awe-stricken by the sight. I was feeling a little tired at the moment, so I saw little harm in stopping. Was I ever wrong. After a minute or two, we heard a thunderous cracking noise from behind us in the forest. It sounded like a tree had been split in two. "Sarah, stay behind me!" She quickly gripped her staff and ran out into the field a good 10 feet off before turning to face me again. As I looked into the forest, I only continued to hear pounding noises and felt vibrations thunder through the ground underneath me. Soon, I saw a silhouette in the forest, and then the shape became clear. An ogre! Giant, berserk creatures that consumed the flesh of men. Apparently, one had caught our scent and had been pursuing us. I quickly drew my sword and shouted "Make haste, Sarah! An ogre has spotted us! You must escape!" I was focused on my target, so I was not able to see that Sarah had ignored my advice, and stood her ground. Finally, the ogre emerged from the forest and swung a massive tree limb at me. The ogre hit me directly in the torso with its primitive weapon, sending me back some distance, but I remained on my feet. I charged toward the ogre with my shield in front of me. Acting instinctively, the ogre swung at me again. This time, I caught the tree limb with my shield, and swung my arm outward, sending the wooden weapon out of his hands. This was an incredible feat for a man, as ogres were often 3 times the size of men. I leapt toward the beast and plunged my sword deep into its chest. The beast let out a loud groan, and used one of its massive arms to send me a good distance into the open field, right past Sarah. My sword was still planted in its chest, robbing me of my weapon. As I got up and caught sight of her, I wasted no time repeating my previous command. "Sarah! Get back, NOW!" I charged towards the ogre again, but before I could reach it I was enveloped in a golden light. "Agents of heaven, shield the bringers of justice from harm!" I wasn't quite sure what she had done to me, but without my weapon, I was willing to take any benefits I could get. As I approached the ogre, he swung at me again, landing a punch across my entire body. At least that's what it looked like. Though the ogre had thrown all of its weight into its punch, to me it felt as though I had been smacked by a small plank of wood. So I was being protected from harm by white magic now. Was there anything this girl couldn't do? Taking advantage of my situation, I swung my shield at the ogre's knuckle, landing a fairly painful shot as the ogre gripped its bleeding fist. I quickly used the opportunity to leap up to the monster's chest again, tearing my sword from it. Before it could react to the sheer amount of pain I had put it in, I climbed up onto its shoulder and plowed my sword directly into its face. The giant creature fell limp, and its body slowly fell over, bringing me to the ground with it. I walked slowly towards Sarah, battered and bruised, despite my victory. "Sarah, are you in good health?" The expression on her face was heartbreaking. She couldn't handle herself in the fight, and she had no idea how to handle the aftermath. "Darius, I...I am sorry...I wanted to help..." I knew it was a bad idea to bring her along. She was far too naïve to be involved in this quest. But we were already too far along to go back. It was already twilight, and I could see a small hill at the end of the peninsula with a lantern hung next to a door. "There's a house to the north. It may belong to the next warrior of light that we seek." Sarah only nodded weakly, and followed me as I headed off towards the hill.  
  
I entered the small house buried in the hill to find that the small hallway inside was empty. I could hear the sound of a voice coming from within, but it was hard to make out. I spotted a door towards the other end of the hallway and headed towards it. I still couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but the tone sounded rather agitated. I opened the door to enter the next room, but was welcomed with a quick "Who's there!?" Before I could get a good look, I saw a bright flash of light that startled me enough to make me jump back into the hallway. I was lucky that I did, because a ball of fire shot through the doorway and smashed into the wall on the other side of the room. "What is this!" I shouted instinctively. The voice inside the room replied, "Who are you!! Answer me!" "I am a warrior of light from Corneria! My quest has carried me to this peninsula. I'm searching for-" "Warrior of light, huh? Sound like a scam to me!" The voice obviously belonged to a woman. "What was that fire? Did you do that? Why did you attack me?" "Whoa there, buddy. Easy on the questions...you don't sound like any elf to me...come on in, come in, I'm sorry about that little welcome there. Just, you know, just gotta watch out for strangers nowadays, you know what I mean?" Sarah and I traded skeptical looks, but I decided to enter the room. Sarah followed close behind, as we entered a fairly large room that had about everything needed to live in. The woman was obviously a hermit. Standing in the center of the room was the short woman, dressed in a scholar's royal blue coat. Though the coat covered nearly all of her body, I could still see that she wore a pair of trousers and simple dress shoes. Strange, she dressed like a man. She also wore leather gloves to cover her hands, making it impossible to see any of her skin at all. She wore a steepled hat that made it hard to see her face. Once I got a good look, it appeared that she did not even have a face at all! Where her head should have been, in the area between the brim of her hat and the collar of her coat was just a dark area. It would have been creepy, if she wasn't acting so eccentric. The only clue as to whether or not she was a person was her rusty brown hair that fell just down to her collarbone in a very untamed fashion. There were no clues as to her age or much of anything about her at all, but her scraggly voice sounded like it belonged to an old, or at least unattractive woman. Before I could say anything, she started walking in the general direction of the door I'd entered the room from. She was fairly disoriented, waving her arms about in front of her as she walked through her own home, tripping over anything in her path, including her own feet. "Well, I'm a little embarrassed about that whole welcome there, where are ya buddy? I'll fix ya some stew or somethin'." She stumbled over towards me but ended up grabbing Sarah. "Whoa there...kinda scrawny there...I coulda sworn I heard a man's voice...how old are you, son?" Sarah's face had gone beet red as the strange old woman patted her down, mistaking her for me. "Excuse me...ma'am? I'm over here...that is my...friend, Sarah." The woman appeared to look in my direction and walked over to me, patting me down the same way she did Sarah. "Ohhhh I see, I see. So that's your, uh, lady-friend there, eh? Nyuk nyuk." She elbowed me in the thigh a couple times as she delivered her accusation. "Ma'am! If you would let me explain!" "Oh alright alright okay. Go ahead, tell me your little story, chuck, I'll go fix some dinner for ya." "My name isn't..." "What kinda vegetable you like in your stew? I ain't got a whole lot right now...damn elves come 'round here and tear up hell, but I got some carrots. Got me some carrots, and I got some chicken left over too, you want some?" She stumbled through her "kitchen", knocking over pots and pans, opening cabinets and making a commotion the likes of which I'd never seen before. Sarah decided to speak up "Excuse me, but did you say an elf came here? The nation of Elfheim is far to the south, across the Aldrean Sea...that's quite a distance for an elf to travel..." The woman finally placed a large pot onto a wood-burning stove, and began pulling out some ingredients. "Yeah, I know honey, damn elf comes all the way up here so he can steal my vegetables and steal my seeing crystal. I tell ya, if I ever catch that lonely bastard back here again...Hey, do these carrots look okay to you?" She held up a small basket with some potatoes in it as she asked for our confirmation. But I caught a part of her blatant jabbering that was important to my quest. "They're fine...you said something about a seeing crystal?" She grabbed a potato from the basket and a knife to chop it up. "Yeah, he took my...hey, I thought you said these were carrots! Awful big for a...is this a turnip?" "Never mind that, what's this about a crystal?" "Aw, shucks man, how am I supposed to make a good stew if you won't even tell me what I'm puttin' in it. Gimme some slack here buddy." This was getting ridiculous. I don't even care about this damn woman's stew already, I want to know about the crystal! "It's a potato, and it's fine, miss. I want to know about this crystal you mentioned." She placed her hands on her hips in a very reprimanding manner and complained, "Fine fine, I'll put some taters in there if ya want, ya don't hafta be so damn pushy, you know." She went back to making her stew as she continued, "So anyway, this elf guy comes here the other day, called himself Astos or somethin' and well...hehe...you know, he was a bit of a looker so I tell him why not stay awhile, and while I'ma sleepin' he goes and snatches my seein' crystal from me. I go lookin' all over the place but he's a gone and he went and stole a bunch of my vegetables too! Damned elf, I say. Did you say you wanted chicken in this?" Finally, I was getting somewhere with this crystal. "Ma'am, do you know where this Astos went?" "I SAID do you want some chicken in this!?" Sarah spoke up for me again, "Yes, that would be nice." "See, I like your lady-friend over there, she's a real nice customer there, just says yes and thank you and doesn't try to be all pushy around here...what's your name, toots?" "I...I'm Sarah..." "Pleasure to meetcha, Sarah. And Mr. Studly? What's your name?" "St-Studly!?" "Ok, studly it is!" "No, my name isn't..." "Ok kiddies, stew's done, just gotta throw some seasonin' in there and it'll be all good for ya. Clears those sinuses up in a jiffy!" I couldn't believe it. Entertaining old hags wasn't exactly in my job description. She made an attempt to pour some of the stew into a couple of bowls, spilling broth all over the place and knocking over more kitchen utensils in the process. "Alright kiddies, come on and get some. It's gonna get cold waitin' over here." I decided to go fetch the bowls and bring them to a small table in the "dining" area of the room. "You know, I just realized I ain't even intr'duced myself yet!" She shot her hand out across the table, nearly knocking my bowl into my lap. "Name's Matouya, wizard extraordinaire!" I nearly choked on my stew. "A wizard?" "Yup! I'll bet you're real surprised, aren't ya. I gotta say, I can be a real ball of fire sometimes. Get it? Ball of Fire? Nyuk nyuk!" Oh dear God. Enough of this, back to the crystal. "Matouya...can you describe this crystal to me? What do you mean it's a 'seeing crystal'?" "Ohhhh that! Right right. Here's the funny thing, see. I was born blind, right? Blind as a bat! Used to live way over in Pravoka, yeah. So I'm about 4 or 5, and I stumble over this little crystal, you know, since I can't see an' all. And here's the crazy thing; as soon as I grab a hold of the thing I can see alluva sudden!" Sarah seemed pretty fascinated by the whole thing. "A crystal that allows the blind to see? I've never heard of such a thing! Are you sure it may not have been white magic?" "No, honey. Tried white magic on me when I was little all the time but ain't nothin' worked. Only the crystal worked for me. See now that it's gone, I'm havin' a little trouble goin' back to bein' blind an' all, but you know, it's somethin' we just gotta deal with sometimes, yeah?" "That's awful..." I needed to find out more about this thing. "Can you describe what the crystal looked like?" Matouya looked over in my direction again. "Well, uh, yeah! At least when I could see it. I'll never forget it, it was this sapphire thing, I think. Didn't look like a whole crystal, looked like somebody mighta broke it off of a bigger one or somethin'." "Do you know who owned it before you found it?" Matouya put her hands on her hips again. "Well I certainly think it was mine to begin with! I didn't find it near anybody or anythin'...hell, I found it way outta town on the beach...thought it mighta washed up on shore or somethin'. Weird, y'know...soon as I picked it up I felt all energized alluva sudden. Like the lil' gem was happy to see me." I remembered the way the shard of the fire crystal felt when I first held it. I took the fire crystal shard off of my neck and decided to try something. Handing it to Sarah, I said "Sarah, I want you to tell me what you feel when you hold this." Sarah clasped the crystal shard in her hand for a few seconds, then looked up at me and said "What's it supposed to feel like?" I was a little lost for a description. "Well, I suppose the feeling is somewhat similar to..." Matouya then cut in, "Kinda like when the cold air blows in and ya get the jitters. Like your whole back goes BRRbrrbrrbrrbrrbbrrbrrbrr! And then ya feel like ya ain't been eatin' nuthin' but sugar all day." I lifted an eyebrow up at Matouya. Yeah, that was actually as good a description as any, but how did she...? "I'm sorry, Darius, but I don't feel anything." She handed the crystal shard back to me and I decided to test my theory. "Now Matouya, I want you to hold this and tell me what you feel." I grabbed Matouya's wrist so she wouldn't knock anything over while reaching for the crystal. As soon as she touched it, her whole body twitched, as though she had gotten a sudden chill down her spine. "Golly, boy! Where did you get this thing!? It feels just like my seein' crystal. Just like it, I swear! But...but this ain't right. This ain't it..." Sarah looked confused, "What do you mean?" "Well, I still can't see for a hoot. It feels just like my seein' crystal, but I ain't seein' anything. Here ya go, studly, I dun' need it." She handed the crystal back to me, sending the energetic feel of the fire crystal through my body again. My suspicions had been confirmed. "Sarah, do you know what this means?" "The crystal of fire only reacts with certain people?" "I think the crystals only give their energy to the warriors of light. Because you are not a warrior of light, you cannot feel any sort of energy from the crystal. But Matouya feels the energy...and that means..." Matouya suddenly stepped back, "Now hold on just a gosh durn minute, studly! There you go with the whole light warrior babble thing again...now don't you go gettin' any idears about me, you wanna find a hero, you go pick up some knights, I'm just a hermit. A blind hermit!" But I wouldn't let this opportunity go by. "Miss Matouya, I believe you may in fact be born a warrior of light, destined to save the world from being enveloped in darkness. The crystal proves who you are." Matouya backed off some more, bumping into more random objects. "Uh-uh, buddy, I can't be a hero! 'Sides, I'm blind as a bat, how am I s'pose to battle the forces of evil and all and I can't even see?" It seemed that getting Matouya to agree to fight alongside me was going to be a difficult task, but Sarah decided to cut in and help me. "Matouya, I propose we come to an agreement of some sort that works for both of us." Matouya looked in Sarah's direction now. "Whaddaya want? I can't make any promises now." "Darius and I shall help you to find your seeing crystal again, if you join us in our quest to restore the light to the crystals of the elements." Matouya began to break down. "You'd get my seein' crystal back for me?" "In exchange for your cooperation during our journey." "Ah...you certainly got me in all a jumble here, fellas...Can I have some time to think about it for awhile...I just gotta, I dunno...there's a lotta things ya gotta work out with..." "I can arrange for the Royal Family of Corneria to compensate you for your trou-" "Deal!"  
  
Morning brought a mist over the vast continent of Guldhand, and the northern peninsula, being surrounded by ocean, was covered in a particularly thick blanket of fog. Sarah and I had been waiting outside Matouya's humble residence for about 15 minutes as she got herself ready for the journey ahead. Finally, the small door embedded into the ground swung open, presenting the woman I would have never expected to be a fellow warrior of light. She was still struggling to put on a small backpack, made mostly of linen and leather with a few buckles, as she stumbled out through the doorway. "Ah, okay...okidoki...smell that fresh air, eh? Mm-mm! Nothin' like a bright, sunny day I tell ya!" Sarah and I exchanged amused looks, and silently decided not to spoil Matouya's mood by correcting her. "Hey! Studly, you there buddy? Where are ya?" Matouya began feeling around before being interrupted by Sarah's staff. "We're right here, Matouya. Are you ready to go?" Matouya turned towards Sarah, following the direction of her voice. "Yeah," she replied, adjusting her backpack again, "I think I'm about set...sorry I took myself some time, y'know it's kinda hard to pack..." I saw that the conversation was going to drag on, so I spoke up before we lost any more time. "Well, if we're all prepared, we ought to be on our way now." Matouya decided to speak up again, "Where exactly are we going, anyway?" This time Sarah, the better planner of the party, cut in again. "We're still searching for the rest of the light warriors, but before we can do that, we need to find Astos and retrieve the crystal he stole...elves do not often leave their homeland, and when they do, it's rare that they do not return. It's likely that Astos has returned to Elfheim, across the Aldrean Sea. Pravoka, to the east, is the only port town on the north side of the Aldrean sea that where ships freely sail to and from Elfheim." "So we head for Pravoka first, then?" I cut in. "Yes, we can take a ship to Elfheim from there and..." Matouya cut Sarah off before she could finish, saying "And tear Astos a new one, that's what we're gonna do! Ohh, I'll throttle the bastard by the neck...teach HIM a thing or two...why I tell ya-" "That's all well and good, Matouya," I said in an attempt to avoid another tangent, "but if we don't get moving soon, we'll have a great deal more monsters to deal with along the way." "Wait, wait...how am I supposed to follow you?" This was a problem so simple even I could address it. "Sarah, can you lead Matouya until we retrieve the seeing stone?" "Certainly." Sarah held out her staff in front of Matouya until she grabbed a hold of it, and followed me, pulling Matouya along behind her. Even though I was some good distance ahead of them, I could hear Matouya muttering: "Gotta go now, gotta hurry up, gotta do this, gotta do that...is he always like this? I hope he's not like, you know, one of those guys that don't hafta sleep at night or anythin'. I mean, if we're gonna do a lot of walkin' like this...y'know my back's been actin' up lately and I dunno...hey, I brought some snacks along though. Y'know, in case anyone gets hungry or somethin'...brought some taters, since ya'll seem to like 'em so much...maybe we'll start a fire tonight, sing some camp songs or somethin'..."  
  
The forest proved to be much less treacherous during the morning, which came as a relief to me. Both the nocturnal and daytime monsters were rather sleepy, and consequently either docile or easily defeated. Matouya had few opportunities to use her skills in battle, and even if she had the chance, the fact still remained that she was without sight, and therefore limited in capability. Hopefully, we would be able to make it out of the forest before we could be tracked by any more ogres...  
  
After a couple of hours, we reached a clearing. A large open field was fenced in rather securely, which was understandable, considering the location. To further ward monsters, various torches around the solid stone walls burned incense every 20 feet or so. At the far end of the wall stood a large building, also made mostly of stone. A large gate stood on one side of this building, offering the only method of entrance into this apparent fortress. "Where are we now?" I muttered to myself, without giving thought to my company. "What, what d'ya see studly?" Matouya had suddenly been infused with an odd energy, for having spent hours traveling through dense forest. "Well, it appears to be a fo-" I would have continued my sentence, were I not interrupted by a sound I had never heard before.  
  
"Wark!"  
  
What in the world? It sounded like it came from within the walls. The sound almost resembled that of a bird chirping...but if that was a bird, it would have had to be the size of a horse! It was incredibly low pitched for a parakeet. Suddenly, Matouya was cackling with joy. "Kahahahah! We found him!" Puzzled, I asked, "Found whom?" "Chocobo Bill, that's who! Pretty durn lucky, too. That had to be a one in a million chance right there, what without my capable guidance...heh heh..." Again, I was puzzled. "Who is Chocobo Bill?" Sarah didn't seem to know what Matouya was talking about either. "Boy, you mean to tell me you come wanderin' out here into the country to save everyone from darkness, and you dunno what a Chocobo is?" Uh oh. I felt a lecture coming on. "Well, I...don't believe I'm very familiar with the-" "Ah, quit yer yappin' and follow me." Matouya began to walk in a random direction, then stopped, realizing her blunder, then turned back to us and said, "Uh, mind pointin' me in the right direction here? Just...um, go to the...what was it..." "The large stone house?" Sarah chimed in. "Y-yeah! That's it! How did you know, you've been here before? I swear, I must have the worst memory in the world! It's only been a couple a' months since I last been here..." I began to tune out Matouya's constant jabbering as I lead the way towards the large stone "house." 


End file.
